Developing Teachers and Developing Schools in Changing Contexts offers a collection of papers presented at the 40th Anniversary International Conference of the Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Papers from this 2005 conference were selected according to their pertinence to teacher development, school development and contextual relevance to the Hong Kong educational system and were then divided into three book sections:
- 1.
Developing Teachers and Developing Schools: Issues and Prospects.
- 2.
Changing Teachers' Roles and Work in Changing Contexts.
- 3.
Teacher and School Development: Toward Collaboration and Interactions.
Editors Lee and Shiu (2008) begin with a literature review on the three core concepts and conclude with four propositions for future inquiry and action which emerged from common issues raised by the book's authors.
Section One begins with an address of effective continuing professional development (CPD). In Chapter Two, Day offers three orientations in CPD and suggests that regardless of a school's selected focus, CPD should adhere to a list of ten best practices as determined by a synthesis of research. The author implicates evaluation as the next essential factor to CPD effectiveness and offers a list of pitfalls followed by a delineation of the levels at which CPD should be evaluated to achieve effectiveness. Day ends with an address of the attitudes, beliefs and practices of school leaders as they influence CPD effectiveness.
In Chapter Three, teacher's knowledge is approached as a developmental process of construction and reconstruction, where both differentiation and integration of knowledge and skills occurs in stages. Authors Tam and Yap propose the “Constructivist‐developmental theory of teacher's knowledge”, five stages of maturation that an individual who enters a new role endures.
The guiding question of Chapter Four is whether or not teachers' CPD in Hong Kong is on the right track. Authors Chan and Lee use a 2003 policy framework document and 2006 interim report to assess teachers' CPD practices against a framework of eight guiding principles for successful professional development with teachers. The latter portion of the chapter offers five suggestions to enhance CPD in an effort to overcome implementation level problems.
In Chapter Five, Lau et al. study the wellbeing of teachers, an issue that they suggest needs to be observed through a more positive perspective in Hong Kong. The authors begin by offering a research review of teacher occupational stress and burnout and conclude that Western nations' positive approach with asset‐based model in understanding and enhancing teacher development is preferential to the deficit‐based model that has limited Hong Kong's teacher development efforts.
Section Two is introduced with an exploration of the professional identities of mid‐level educational leaders in post‐compulsory education in England that occurs Chapter Six. Using reform in English further education colleges as a context, Briggs attempts to understand the professional identities of leaders in colleges and schools.
Chan et al. argue that the shift from “hard” to “soft” education policy has greatly influenced teachers' roles in China. Chapter Seven addresses this policy transformation by outlining characteristics of both and paying special attention to the “Learning to learn reform” which was shaped by Hong Kong's changing political, economic and cultural contexts.
Chapter Eight authors Ho and Tsang suggest that education reforms in Hong Kong have threatened teachers' professional identities. Using symbolic interactionism to explain teachers' experiences, the authors interviewed 11 teachers from 2003 to 2005 to understand how they used reform contexts to construct meanings of their selves, identities and emotions.
A case study is addressed in Chapter Nine, as Law and Wan investigate the impact of a curriculum leadership project in a primary school in Hong Kong which was accustomed to the tradition of school based curriculum development. In their attempt to understand how teacher professional development has been influenced by engagement in curriculum decision‐making, the authors find that while positive outcomes were revealed further research is needed.
In Chapter 10, six case studies are analyzed for common challenges to Personal, Social and Humanities Education (PSHE) teachers in Hong Kong undertaking curriculum development. The study identified that PSHE teachers encountered ambiguous objectives and overly radical approaches to integration, low degrees of readiness for pedagogical change and insufficient collaboration throughout curriculum development. Authors Lee et al. offer suggestions for improvement to conclude the chapter.
In Chapter 11, Nagendralingan et al. address the question of how teachers make pedagogical decisions and the relationship between this decision‐making and the teaching‐learning process. The authors specifically reference research on 17 Malaysian history teachers' practices and challenges through interviews, narrative analyses and field observations.
Chapter 12 addresses the role of physical education department heads as integral in enhancing both the quality and status of their subject. The author, Chan, suggests that the departmental leadership conceptual framework of the present study be adopted in Hong Kong secondary schools in pursuit of program development.
Macgillivray suggests that, in the name of inclusion, equity and threat minimization, school districts and colleges of education advocate for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) students. Methods for effective teacher development for advocacy based on both personal efforts and research are offered by the author.
Section Three begins with an adaptation of a UK school improvement program “Improving the Quality of Education for All” (IQEA) for the Hong Kong educational system. In Chapter 14, Clarke illustrates how researchers collaborate with practitioners to develop school improvement strategies to account for different contexts. He concludes with observational evidence that show improvements in teaching and management arrangements.
Chapter 15 addresses a study of three schools which participated in the “Leading Edge Partnership Program” in England and suggests that cross‐school collaboration helps to bolster both teacher development and school improvement. In the chapter's conclusion, Stevenson provides delineated lists of factors which helped and factors which hindered the cooperative process.
In Chapter 16, results from the author's study suggest that education stakeholders in Hong Kong fail to connect their philosophy of including special needs students into neighborhood schooling with measurable practice and resource allocation. Hui contends that partnership development between key players in the Hong Kong educational system is integral to the provision of inclusive education for special needs children.
Hong Kong's collaborative “Learning Centre Scheme” is the focus on Chapter 17. Authors Cheng and Yeung find that financial support as well as support from school administrators and the Hong Kong Institute of Education is essential for the program's success. The chapter is concluded with recommendations for future development of the scheme.
In Chapter 18, Chen and Cote discuss how they used information technology as a means to accommodate individual differences among students in a classroom in Hong Kong. Using the Collaborative Interaction Learning Model, the authors found that students became the center of the classroom environment, using the Blackboard program. Chen and Cote contend that information technology can greatly enhance learning outside of the classroom and suggest that their study has clear implications for teacher education programs.
The study outlined in Chapter 19 analyzes the interactions of English language teachers in Hong Kong during an enduring online discussion on grammar education. This is done in an effort to gauge the legitimacy of computer conferencing in fostering interaction between teachers as a means to teacher development. Sze, the author, uses a message flow diagram to map the discussions of teachers and make observations regarding interactions between online participants.
In Developing Teachers and Developing Schools in Changing Contexts, editors Lee and Shiu (2008) bring together an array of works addressing the progression of schooling in Hong Kong. Cited research is conducted in such nations as Malaysia and England, but all findings are adapted to be applicable to the context of the Hong Kong educational system. With sections that address teacher development, changing school dynamics and partnership and interactions, Lee and Shiu offer a book that any stakeholder invested in the future of education in Hong Kong can use as a source for learning as well as effective policy and program planning. More specifically, administrators focused on developing school level functions will find the concepts discussed in Lee and Shiu's book beneficial as they integrate them into their context specific practices.
